Manchester-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) provider Peak will expand into new global markets after raising $75 million in its latest round of funding, led by SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund 2.

Peak AI, which sells its “decision intelligence” enterprise software platform to non-tech companies to help with their operations, plans to use the latest increase to double its workforce and expand into new markets by the end of the year. .

Its latest round, in which its current investors MMC Ventures, Oxx, Praetura Ventures, Arete and Octopus Ventures also participated, raises the total amount raised by the company to $119 million.

He quickly follows the startup’s $21 million Series B funding round, which only ended in February, when investors noted strong demand for its product over the past twelve months, driven by new gains from global customers and double the amount. revenue growth.

As part of its global expansion plans, Peak will use the latest funds to open new offices in the US and India, invest in software development and hire 200 more people in the next year.

Peak says its platform has helped current customers, which include a variety of retailers and manufacturers, reduce supply chain costs by 5 percent and inventory by 12 percent.

Its current client list includes Nike, PepsiCo, KFC, PrettyLittleThing, Superdry and Asos, who use the software for operations that can be successfully automated, such as monitoring inventory levels.

Peak CEO Richard Potter, who says no other company offers a similar AI product, said: “Modern businesses are complex and operate in an ever-changing world. It’s becoming impossible to run them without AI. ”

Max Ohrstrand, Senior Investor at SoftBank Investment Advisors, said: “At Peak, we have a partner with a shared vision that the enterprise of the future will run on a centralized AI software platform capable of optimizing entire value chains.

“To accomplish this, a new kind of platform is needed and we are extremely impressed with what Richard and the excellent team have built at Peak.”

About Peak

Peak is a Decision Intelligence company based in Manchester, UK. It was founded in December 2014 and has additional offices in Jaipur, India and Edinburgh, Scotland.

Peak is the pioneer of a new category of enterprise software, Decision Intelligence; the commercial application of AI to optimize business performance. Decision Intelligence enables companies to realize their potential, increase revenue and profits. Peak’s platform is used by leading brands in sectors such as retail, CPG, direct to consumer, construction and manufacturing. Peak’s clients include Nike, PepsiCo, KFC, PrettyLittleThing, Superdry and CJ Group.

Peak was named a Gartner ‘Cool Vendor’ for AI in Retail and was also named Top 10 Technology Companies to Work For 2021 with the ‘World Class’ Best Companies accreditation, which recognizes extraordinary levels of employee engagement. Peak is an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Retail Competency Partner and Machine Learning Competency Partner, and is ISO 27001 accredited.